mr. monkeysuit

cocktail waitress

Cissie got a new summer dress last week (I can dream can't I? only another 3 months of snow to go). I got the pattern or should I say idea from this book (ISBN 4910123500768). I know everyone says that even though you don't read Japanese you can still follow the pattern. Uhhh well. OK. Let's just leave it at that shall we? Lucky for me the dress was super simple, in fact more of a tube with elastic running through the top (which is so not how they had it in the book but how it ended up for me)

It took me a couple of tries to get the shoulder straps right. At one point Cis was walking round with them hanging off her shoulders, she looked decidedly like she should be offering me a whiskey sour. Still in the end it all came together in a rather sweet way and all she needs to do now is grow 4 inches so it will fit.

And the winner is...

Nada . Congratulations. I'll be sending out the prize asap. If you haven't seen Nada's blog craft monkey you should definitely go and check it out. I have just read through all of her archives....again. I remember her blog from when it first started and I left a comment/ question asking about her life in a yome . I think it sounds like a fascinating life and I would love to hear even more about it.
Thank you all for entering. It was a lot of fun getting all those comments!
Back later this week, with lots more red goodness.

Well, well, well,

aren't you a great big bunch of lurkers? I had no idea you were all out there. Nothing like a prize to reveal who is reading. I am so delighted that you are, and now I have a whole new lot of blogs to get reading too.
Thank you so much for all your entries and all your well wishes. The room is still spinning but I am trying to embrace it. I will announce the winner tomorrow so there is still a little time to get your name in the hat for the prize.
In the meantime I thought I might just backtrack a bit.
In this post I mentioned how great a year it had been for my lovely Andy and I made a reference to an award. Well now I get to brag about it. He won an award from the Jerwood Foundation for the book he is currently working on.
So off he trotted to London last week to pick up his prize and he came back with a little something for me.

New fabrics from Liberty.

So cool. Really. All of it. The award, the fabric, my husband.

I'll be back tomorrow to announce another winner.

apologies and a prize

Sorry to have been so long without posting, or even explaining my absence but I got labyrinthitis. I know, I know, what the hell is it and why the weird name ? It is basically an inner ear thing that means your balance goes all screwy....right now I feel like I am gently rocking, as if I were on a yacht in St.Lucia. Kind of. Well it seems to be clearing up a bit but one of the side effects has been that I really didn't like looking at a computer screen for too long. But now I am back and here is the long promised prize....

Here it is, two quilted place mats, matching reversible coasters and not one but TWO needle felted mushroom centerpieces. It is a mushroomy world of goodness waiting to be delivered to one lucky winner. And I think it would be a perfect Valentines Day table setting, so very red and polka dotty.

All you need to do is leave a comment, names in a hat and I'll announce the winner on Tuesday morning.

Good luck and I'll be back to posting more regularly (including the book from the last post) just as soon as the damn room stops spinning.

re-made

What to do with an old t-shirt and your husband's newly felted sweater (ahem).

Winter Boy is born....at least that is his working name.

very cute no ?

Tomorrow I'll list the book he came from and scan some of the other great pictures in it.

for a friend I've never met

 

A few days ago Floyd came back from a playgroup and I asked him who was there. He mentioned a couple
of names that I knew and then he said, "and there were some other friends there that I didn't know."
I thought that was so sweet. "friends you don't know", in his world everyone is a friend even if he has never met them before. It got me to thinking about this blog and all of you who take the time to comment and share. All the blogs I love to read and how I kind of visit you each week. I think of all of you as friends I have never met. Ain't that swell? This whole community filled with people talking, sharing ideas, swapping out gifts. All these little networks and links criss-crossing the world...most of us have never met and still there is a strong sense of community. So thank you for coming over to see me and letting me share in your blogs too.

On that note I made this long overdue present for another blogger, another 'friend I've never met'.

 

It is a Debbie Bliss pattern, called 'first coat' and for some reason, I can't put my hands on the book its from but if you really want to know, send me an email and I will try and dig through the mess that is my study and find it.

And I haven't forgotten the aforementioned prize, I didn't get it finished for last week but this week, I promise!

flea market find

I found this long before Christmas at our local flea market. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it but it was wayyyy expensive so after haggling long and hard with the owner for a good half hour and making a mad dash to the automated teller. It was mine. I knew it would fit in with Floyd's cafe so well and sure enough the kids love it. It has been their absolute favorite present, though they did not get it until some days after Christmas.

(Sorry for the very crooked photos- a little too much Christmas cheer)

When I bought it, it was in pretty bad shape. It had linoleum on the counter top part and needed a new lick of paint. Needless to say it was not me that fixed those particular ailments.
  But once it was filled with all manner of goodies from Casey's (thanks to this Soulemama post I think just about every blogger bought something from there.) and a few more bits and pieces it was ready for action.

This scale from Granny and Grandpa completed what is now Floyd and Cissie's general store, kitchen, cafe, Dr.'s office, fire station, etc. And I have to say they serve a pretty fine acorn pie. 

must not buy

I was doing my usual cruise online, after getting an email alert that Nordic Kids is having a sale. Claire first told me about them and I have been coveting stuff from them ever since. I am so in love with this little dress I just can't stand it.

So I did a little search on some of the brands they stock to see if there was a US distributor, alas there is not one that I have found but good lord, look what I found instead.

How flippin' cute are these. They are by Katvig  and I found them online here and here. Each of these shops has a whole bunch of great kids clothes.

Could someone please help me justify buying more clothes? Just one good reason, that's all I need. I am counting on your help ladies, and I think you know where I am coming from.  So dig deep and find me a reason.....please.

needle felting is my new love

I have been oh so busy this weekend with my new book. I think I have found a new crafty love. Andy bought me a needle felting kit for Christmas and this donkey is the very first thing I have ever made. Which goes to show how flippin' easy it is. He is a little whispy-er than I would like but my needle snapped as I was giving him his finishing touches. And in the book he has a red satchel that I just couldn't get to making. But overall I am loving him. Here's the book,

Animal Mascots Made of Wool by Ondori ISBN 978 4 277 56310 9

This looks a perfect little Easter project. Did I really just say that ?  I can NOT honestly be thinking about Easter already, ahem. Moving on. I got the book from etsy and there is another copy from this seller. I got my starter kit from Nova Toys and some extra wool from here.

On another note, I would like to say thank you to everyone who left a comment about the quilt in the last post. Thank you so much, it is incredibly rewarding to hear that you all liked it.

Keep checking in with me this week as I may be posting a little prize up for grabs... and yes it probably will have something to do with needle felting.

new quilt, old quilt, small quilt, big(ger) quilt

I made this little doll quilt last year. 

I kept thinking about it and how cool it would be as a crib size quilt. So I made it and here it is.

If you asked me whether I liked the colors orange or yellow I would honestly say I am not such a fan, though Andy's favorite color is in fact orange, I have never been too partial. But something about this combination of fabrics works for me. And I do really, really love that vintage owl fabric which alas is running in short supply now.

This is only the second quilt I have made to be sold and it is currently up in my etsy shop. Yes, I finally did it and like the razor sharp business woman that I am, I started listing just in time for everyone to be broke after the holidays. *Pure genius*, I know.

Any road up. There it is, my etsy shop on the sidebar and I have to say I am kind of loving it. There is no pressure to fulfill orders or make huge batches of things. If I make something and I want to try and sell it then there it is but equally if I want time to focus on other things, say for instance an 18-month-old who thinks that 4.30am is a good time to wake up and who has four fangs (that is the medical word for them, right?) coming in at once and a 3-year-old on school holidays who is having a bout of cabin fever, (this is just a for instance of course) then no problem, I just don't make anything.

That is kind of cool isn't it ? I think etsy speaks to a generation of crafters who either have a full time job or full time family but that just want to make something. It feels old-fashioned to me. Like there are a bunch of women at home making things to sell in the market for some extra income. I like being a part of that.

Plus my horoscope in People magazine said this year would be a good time to start business ventures.

So there you have it. I rely on a trashy gossip rag to make career decisions.

At least I have moved on from the magic eight ball.